Salinity in the germination of Brassicas oleracea L. var. itálica

Abstract

The demand for vegetable seeds with high quality and the achievement of vigorous seedlings is increasing, because these characteristics determine the success of the production. The use of some areas such as arid and semiarid regions runs into some obstacles such as salinity and potential sodicity of water used for irrigation, whose main purpose is to provide adequate moisture for growth and development of plants in order to increase productivity and consequently, reduce the effects of drought. This study aims to assess the seed germination and vigor of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. itálica) cv. Santana, under the influence of salt stress. The experiment was conducted at the Laboratory of Analysis of Seeds and Seedlings of the Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia Agroalimentar da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, PB-Pombal, in completely randomized design, with treatments arranged in 2x5 factorial scheme, corresponding to two lots of seeds (not aged and aged) and osmotic potentials of five soaking solution (0, –0.2, –0.4, –0.6 and –0.8 MPa). Seeds were germinated in Petri dishes on two sheets of filter paper moistened with saline (NaCl) at different concentrations and maintained in germination temperature of 20-30º C and photoperiod-eight hours, after were subjected to assessment of their physiological quality through tests of germination and vigor. The presence of salts in the soaking solution resulted in decreased seed vigor as the osmotic potential of the soaking solution has become more negative, indicating that the seeds of broccoli cultivar Santana has low tolerance to salinity.

Keywords

• Brassica oleracea var. itálica; Osmotic potential; Vigor